'55 Chevy 3800 Cummins
 

i can't remember if this update ever hit the sheets or not, but this is where i'm at! she's been put away in storage for a while, at least inside til i find a new shop. front clip is on but needs some adjusting. with the engine having to move back 6" making me do all the sheet metal work anyways, i'm pretty sure i'll drop all the body mounts 3" to slam the body now too. front dually wheels will also narrow the truck a LOT to allow the tires to tuck vs eating the fenders. either way though, that's a '55 with a cummins under it's hood.

https://scontent-iad3-1.xx.fbcdn.net...dd&oe=5A4EBBB2

https://scontent-iad3-1.xx.fbcdn.net...1b&oe=5A42D63C

https://scontent-iad3-1.xx.fbcdn.net...e0&oe=5A5CAF63

https://scontent-iad3-1.xx.fbcdn.net...6c&oe=5A5E8C3F

time to bring this back!

so while she's been in storage, my plans for this truck have changed a little. i was just building a truck to play with before, but now i want something i can show and use. the 96 ram chassis is going away. the front suspension is not good, there are ZERO parts available, i already have to redo every mount for the body/engine n trans, it looks bad, etc.

so now i want to build something i can really use. drive, show, tow, etc. so i decided i'm going back to a GM C30 front suspension, just like the c10 stuff i built before but more beef. lots of upgrades available. also now that i've built 2 air bag IFS, 3rd times the charm and i'm going to change it up a bit from what i've learned.

i FINALLY found the IFS parts i've been looking for cheap. no way i'm spending $3k on an all new setup, i really only needed the cross member, but i found a whole chassis. early 80s 3+3 1-ton chassis that someone converted to a dually rear since the front is SRW hubs. $100 for the whole thing. AND i got the rear bumper i've been wanting!

i get to measuring and this frame is WAY closer to what i was going to build. i need to look over things more, but i very well might keep this entire chassis including the saddle tanks. if i do that, i'll get it running and driving on the current springs without cutting any length out even. then build from there.

https://i.imgur.com/WyBSrA3.jpg

Now this is one worth bringing back...light it up :rock:

i just found out this was a thing! mechanical spring starter, just wind it up and let it go.

i really think i need this in my life, would be awesome in the '55. zero electrical needed to start and drive the truck.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tcWj02xB3pU

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K0I-EHsmkME

I can't imagine a worse automotive starting procedure. Model T even beats that method out by 10x speed or more.

Can you imagine doing that over and over again trying to diagnose a problem? Or doing it out in any sort of cold weather?

Its fine when the engine is out in the open...but in an engine bay...fukk that.

You're still going to have a basic electrical system for lights and such. Just run a normal starter.

Figured, someone that beats off like you do, that should be a nice little workout engine :lol:

Uh, on a serious note, HELL NO :lol:

buzz-kill, you guys are no fun

after 2.5 years locked up, its free!!!

https://i.imgur.com/QEFY8Dk.jpg

well, almost a year since i unloaded it, it's almost time to get back to building. started gathering parts, and started to un-burry the truck. yes, i was way more packed in ...

i snagged the IFS cross member off the c30 chassis, and the rear bumper ... threw the 14b behind the shed ... and scrapped the rest. i've decided this truck needs to be tight and right, not just a rat. while doing that i'm going to try to not just throw money at it though, i guess we'll see. for what i'm doing i don't think i needed to spend an extra $3k on the front suspension, so it's all new but "all stock" '78 c30.

obviously the air bags vs coils, no going back on making this thing low. proper low. i ordered the 3" lowering spindles this time. trial and error learned i need them after messing with the C10 IFS geometry the first go-around.

https://i.imgur.com/jJvuDrQ.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/pA3rdxY.jpg

Get er done, will be sweet when its all together. We can race, you get this driving or I get my wagoneer running and driving :lol:

you know i'm in! take bets now, perfect excuse for a road trip.

So the tires on it from the Ram are the exact size i'm getting to build with, and i've decided that i like the front wheel placement in the opening. the rear however needs stretched more. more wheel base and getting the axle close to the hitch will both help towing. so i've moved the fender as far back on the bed as i can, was a 10.5" move. with a tire shift in the wheel opening too, i should be right at 12" stretch. will have the same wheelbase as my GMC, but the hitch closer to the axle.

it's a good thing i bought 2 fuel cells to make the tank with, they will not get split up and made into saddle tanks.

https://i.imgur.com/tTva6pM.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/O0Sy1WI.jpg

picked the wheels i'm going with FINALLY. so it was time to start checking fit and clearance before i bought em. the one big difference i'm doing in the front is to run the dually wheel, but not a dually hub. this will let me run a hub extension of the width i choose, vs what GM made. and i don't feel too bad with 8lug or that OEM's do it.

so the standard dually extension is about 4.5". i plan to use a basic 2" wheel spacer instead. this will narrow the front end by 5" to fit under the narrower front clip of the 55. the old stock wheels off my GMC are the same 17" AL, but are only 5.37" back spacing vs the new dually wheels 7.87". With the 2" spacer the back face of the dually wheel will be 0.5" more inboard that pictured with the GMC wheels. should be just about perfect! lots of brake, upper ball joint, and steering clearance, and just enough lower ball joint clearance in the worst case of travel. and yes, the wheels i chose were in part chosen because the wheel face ties into the lip vs back in the barrel to give more caliper clearance for this narrowing.

another note is that i'm really glad i am now using all C30 parts vs the c10 bits i started with WAY back. these parts are WAY heavier, just more beef everywhere. including solid, yes solid factory control arm bushings.

https://i.imgur.com/UgLPyhO.png
https://i.imgur.com/fDj2WQk.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/WEX1oth.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/fSvu1RG.jpg

started to science out the front suspension and alignment set up vs max travel. i need to draw a line in the sand so i know how tall the step in the frame will be. this also requires having both new front tires/wheels ... coming soon.

total travel:
factory C30 bump to bump (not including bump compression) - 4.5"
LCA bump and bump mount removed, UCA bump removed - 10.5"

i believe max travel limited by the upper ball joint was 12" when i did it before. this time i am trying to limit crazy camber and keep within a driveable range as much as possible, so the mods are a bit different. without a pie cut on the UCA, the ball joint is the compression limit. droop is stopped when the UCA hits the cross member, but i think i can clearance it some for a bit more.

for comparison:
C7 vetter is 5.25" factory to the rocker, probably 4.75" under it, and 3.75" at the from rubber air dam.

i set up this suspension for 0 camber at 6" above full compression, or 6" of ground clearance. this gave me -4.5deg camber at full compression, not bad really and can actually help with fit inside the fender. i also have a max thru full travel of +0.5deg, totally driveable. from 3" above full compression to max, i have a minimum of -1.5deg camber, also very driveable. spend most of my driving at 6", then anything above or below shouldn't wear the tires enough for me to care. even getting into some negative camber when lower with good "camber gain" at a sporty lower height :lol:

https://i.imgur.com/qibGRVK.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/V4IM9kq.jpg

Unrelated note...what floor jack is that? I need one.

she isn't exactly cheap ... but toootally worth it!

now that i have to swap the tires on the YJ every time it goes in or out of the enclosed trailer, i needed a jack that would work anywhere easy. it's also rolls too easy really, it'll roll away down my 1/8" /ft garage floor! but also makes moving a vehicle on it super easy too. came with the short extension, and i bought the taller one with it. i can jack up the YJ by the bumper and get the 40s off the ground.

https://www.proeagle.com/collections...el-jack-kratos

Wow you're not kidding but that is sweet!

it's the ultra4 car of jacks

Yeah, I saw one out at the Hammers, as well as Moab...as much as I wanted one, man I just don't use them enough to justify the cost :james:

After working on the Jeep this weekend tho, if I did that regularly I'd have one, no question!

woohoo! got my first wheel to check fit! not only does it look really good i think, but it should also fit really well to help me narrow the truck. the tire behind the wheel is the size i'm using, so it's a really a good representative picture. only difference is it's sitting at about 15" and normal height will be 6".

brake clearance is great to the massive 1-ton calipers, this would have never happened with steel wheels. the ONLY clearance issue is with the LCA, and only on one side. the LCA lip rolls out and is really thick there, so with a simple welded-in stiffening rib to the bottom side, i can simply clearance what i need. my goal is 45deg of steering thru the full travel. that might get limited by fender clearance, we'll see how that goes.

https://i.imgur.com/MZrbDyC.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/niBCnDO.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/5DHelPf.jpg

i think I'm linking how this is coming out so far. Still needs a lot of detail work, dimension checking, and the obvious front frame horns, but getting there! at this point i'm pretty sure this will be more than sturdy enough for me to do work.

started running numbers for the rear links and ended up really changing up my plan. when i started this i was actually at nearly 150% anti-squat. dialed it in a bit, added some adjustment, and i should be able to achieve 90-120% now. links ended up only 6" longer than stock c10.

https://i.imgur.com/iZVK91K.jpg

a lot happened today

https://i.imgur.com/FIJOoVm.jpg

a few missing details, but i think this chassis is close to wrapped from the firewall back. now time to focus on the front. the odd channel brackets are for saddle style fuel cells.

https://i.imgur.com/HFngXhV.jpg

This is going to be rad.

i think that's pretty much a wrap! got all the IFS crossmember mounting dialed in and the frame connectors built. now to start detailing out drawings and such to have all the plate cut.

https://i.imgur.com/Ke3jFym.jpg

That is going to be so bad ass :rock:

Oh, and again, that jack :drool:

:lol:

ordered all the steel for the chassis today! was $536 delivered from MetalDepot.com, $527 picked up locally, or $385 picked up an hour away. i'm driving for it!

tires get put on the wheels Tuesday, that's when i can final double confirm the chassis and start the fab. had to move the rear most bags inboard b/c of a wheel clearance.

Colin said he could cut all my plate early Jan, but that shouldn't hold me up at all getting things together.

https://i.imgur.com/btiNJuQ.jpg

:rock:

started actual chassis fab yesterday with the tube work. got everything bent, notched, and cleaned up. even bent up some stuff for a buddy to build a TJ belly pan / engine skid.

https://i.imgur.com/UF3TU9j.jpg

Did you model the engine and rear end or was that sourced from somewhere?

Looks pretty sweet!

What kind of joint do you use between the diff cover and that z thing to have play due to the fixed mount on those "lower" links?

What do you call that style suspension?

found em online! the 14b was from the FB group for offroad CAD, while the cummins was a dropbox link i found in a forum from like 2015 that still worked!

Watts link suspension! Basically does what a panhard bar does, without any lateral movement of the axle with suspension travel.

this version of a radius arm suspension is generally called a "truck arm" setup. factory to C10 trucks, and used in NASCAR. my links are actually only 6" longer than a factory C10. the little extra length was what allowed me to dial in the anti-squat numbers.

just to try something different, and because i wanted a lot of suspension travel with the tires tucked tight to the fenders, i went with the WATTs link instead of the panhard bar. over 15" of travel, my links induce only about 0.07" lateral motion. it has standard poly bushings on the frame side of the links and heims at the pivot link. the center pivot is a big-ol Johnny joint. was easy to fab with, and allows the link to rotate some with the travel while still being a stiff joint. when i was designing it i went back n forth with Sean over that fact that it being able to pivot could also induce some extra lateral motion. per the geometry, it's less than 0.1" so i suspect no bad effects. but i've been wrong before, and we are going to find out!

that part of the suspension i designed and built in 2017 :eek: it'll be moved over to the new chassis.

https://i.imgur.com/XwBoMrH.jpg

Nice! Thanks

got the chassis wrapped up in 3D and got the steel a few days ago. did a quick mock-up for motivation and to check a few last minute dim's before cutting the last chassis in half to save a few bits. the C30 IFS is 3"+ narrower than the ram suspension currently under the truck. the mock-up picture is at that chassis' max drop, what should be about 3" below ride for the new chassis. not going to say i'll never rub a fender with the tire, but shouldn't be too bad.

i'm also super glad that i'm taking the time to properly slam this truck. i think i'd have always been pissed driving around with that as my max drop. having spend all the time building to have only gone half way.

https://i.imgur.com/6XBu2A7.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/rMDXVcs.jpg

So are the rockers going to touch the ground on the new chassis? Thanks for the build thread, it is motivating me to get out in the garage and work on some projects. Also this is further fueling my want to build a jeep cab ramp truck, that will sadly have to wait til I have a different house, I have nowhere I could park or build something like that here.

go build! i'll race ya to first drive.

"yes" ... i'm building it to have the rocker 0.5" above the bottom of the frame, and the frame on the ground at the same time as suspension end of travel. i'll then add 0.25" bump pads in the suspension above bind for a minimum level of safety against uneven parking.

as of the mock-up, i'm hoping to set the ride at about 8" above bump for more steering clearance. really there shouldn't be anything mechanically limiting me from that, but we'll see how it rides and the geometry changes once aligned.

did some smashing on steel this weekend to get the huge sticks off the floor. even remembered to lay out the riser so that the seams would line up. :pimp:

ordered 1 stick of 6x2x0.25, came in 24ft mill stock. i never actually measured it, but we're good, i only had 1" left over!! damn thing is that 1" cost me $1 :james: :lol: i nested all the 22.5deg cuts to save steel and make less cuts and it's a good thing. i knew i'd consume 23'6" ish before cut widths.

putting a full round on 4" c-channel is kind of a b!tch, but i think the effect was worth the effort. it's for the body mounts, so that cut will be hanging out on it's own. i also hate grinding this much, but without a huge drop-arm band saw i wasn't getting the cut precision in the 6x2. the ceiling mounted air filter was a HUGE win.

https://i.imgur.com/hSU0idd.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/xy1hWlx.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/RiQElb8.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/W5cKYql.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/zmlM7H6.jpg

Lining the seams up, next level detail...super nice!

Cool sweatshirt, bro...see you there in February?

i'd like to, but probably not